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Maternal vaccination against pertussis is safe and provides effective protection against pertussis for the newborn, but the vaccine coverage rate remains generally low. Norway is currently planning for introduction of routine maternal pertussis vaccination. To assess maternal pertussis vaccination acceptance among pregnant Norwegian women, we surveyed women at 20-40 weeks gestation in 2019. Among the 1,148 pregnant women participating in this cross-sectional study, 73.8% reported they would accept pertussis vaccination during pregnancy if it was recommended, 6.9% would not accept and 19.2% were undecided. Predictors for low likelihood of accepting pertussis vaccination during pregnancy included low confidence in health authorities and in maternal pertussis vaccination safety and effectiveness, low awareness and adherence to influenza vaccination during pregnancy, and low awareness of pertussis vaccination. The major reasons reported for not accepting or being undecided about maternal pertussis vaccination were lack of information on vaccine safety for both mother and child. Most women reported that they would consult their general practitioner or a midwife for information if they were offered maternal pertussis vaccination. General practitioners and midwives were also regarded as the most trustworthy sources of information if the women were in doubt about accepting vaccination. We conclude that information addressing safety concerns and raising awareness about maternal pertussis vaccination could increase acceptance of maternal pertussis vaccination. Our findings highlight the pivotal role of the antenatal and primary health care services in providing such information to pregnant women.

Background: Lymphocyte migration plays a key role in the development of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD). Blocking lymphocyte migration by targeting chemokine receptors, such as CXCR3, may be a promising strategy for preventing and treating aGVHD. Our previous studies have shown that short-term CXCR3 antagonist treatment combined with cyclosporine A alleviated aGVHD. However, the effect of long-term AMG487 treatment on aGVHD survival has not been thoroughly investigated., Methods: A murine aGVHD model was used to examine the expression of CXCR3 in donor T cells. The effects of short- and long-term AMG487 treatment on aGVHD survival were assessed. The infiltration of donor T cells into the liver and spleen tissues and the activation of donor T cells in splenic tissues were also examined., Results: CXCR3 was consistently highly expressed in donor T cells in a murine aGVHD model. Long-term AMG487 treatment, but not short-term, improved survival and aGVHD outcomes (p < 0.05). Furthermore, long-term AMG487 administration reduced the number of donor T cells in the liver but increased the number of donor T cells in the spleen (p < 0.05). Long-term AMG487 treatment also inhibited donor T cell activation in the spleen (p < 0.05)., Conclusion: This study demonstrates that long-term AMG487 treatment has a potential therapeutic effect on aGVHD and could be used as a novel therapy., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Photocatalytic reduction of uranyl ions (UO 2 2+ ) is an environmentally friendly, energy efficient, and highly effective method for uranium-containing wastewater treatment and uranium recovery. Herein, a novel photocatalytic material CH-8 @NNFO-4 with abundant oxygen vacancies was synthesize by growing Ca(OH) 2 on the surface of Fe doped NaNbO 3 in situ. The Ca(OH) 2 synergizes with the oxygen vacancies, creating a microenvironment that narrows the bandgap and extends the light response range. At the same time, the Ca-O enhance carrier transport rates and reduce the electron-hole recombination rate. Under solar irradiation, over 93.68 % UO 2 2+ is rapidly reduced to insoluble U(IV) without protectants or free radical scavengers, which is sixteen times that of pure NaNbO 3 , with a theoretical reduction capacity reached to 826.45 mg·g⁻ 1 . After five cycles, the removal efficiency remains at 88.77 %. The CH-8 @NNFO-4 possesses excellent recyclability, acid and alkali resistant, anti-interference of anions and cations and chemical stability, Furthermore, the charge transfer in CH-8 @NNFO-4 revealed through DFT calculations, and an enhanced mechanism for the Ca-O synergizes spatial microenvironment photocatalytic reduction of U(VI) was proposed. This work provides a new catalytic reaction design strategy for the efficient reduction of U(VI)., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

New kinds of crystalline waste forms with improved structural stability are desirable for actinide immobilization. In this work, using a molten salt method, two uranium(IV) germanate compounds, namely, K 2 UGe 3 O 9 ( 1 ) and K 2 UGe 2 O 7 ( 2 ), were synthesized, whose compositions consisted of trimeric and dimeric units of germanate, as well as tetravalent uranium, as proved by bond valence calculation and X-ray absorption spectra. Radiation stability assessment is further performed by γ-irradiation to assess the potential of as-synthesized uranium germanate compounds as nuclear waste forms. Powder X-ray diffraction and single-crystal diffraction analyses reveal that 1 remains stable within 1 MGy dosage and undergoes a significant structural change with increasing dosage at 2 MGy, leading to a transformation of 1 to 1-ir analogous to 2 in chemical structure. The underlying mechanism was further studied through a combination of different characterization techniques, including Raman, UV-vis, and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopies. Density functional theory calculations of 1 and 2 were also conducted to probe the coordination interaction of germanium and uranium with oxygen atoms. This work reports new crystalline uranium germanates by flux growth and, most importantly, provides insights into the irradiation stability of these materials, which will be beneficial to developing waste forms for long-term immobilization of radionuclides.

The optical single sideband (SSB) transmitter based on dual modulation of an electro-absorption modulation laser (D-EML) has attracted considerable attention for its capability of monolithic integration and high output power. A model-based modulation method has been developed recently for generating high-quality optical SSB signals with this D-EML scheme. However, this method requires accurate characterization of the EML's chirps and pre-compensation for frequency responses of all-optical/electrical components, as well as the path difference between two driving signals. This imposes notable requirements on the transmitter characterization in practical applications. In this paper, we propose an adaptive method to approach the required responses of the pre-compensation filters for this optical SSB transmitter. This method avoids cumbersome device characterization and shows great resilience to the variation of system parameters. By using the proposed adaptive method, we generate a 56 Gb/s optical SSB orthogonal frequency-division multiplexed signal with the sideband suppression power ratio exceeding 21 dB. It is convenient with this method to switch the devices, i.e., directly modulated laser (DML) or electro-absorption modulator (EAM), to be pre-compensated for the optical SSB signal generation. Moreover, this method exhibits good tolerance to the path delay (±15 ps) between DML and EAM, as well as modulation depth. We also successfully transmit this signal over 80 km long standard single-mode fiber.

Temporal niche partitioning is a crucial strategy for sympatric species to avoid predation and competition for habitat space and food resources. This study investigated the effect of the gut microbiota on the metabolic rhythms of two sympatric gerbil species (Meriones unguiculatus and Meriones meridianus) to test the hypothesis that the oscillatory patterns of microbiota may not fully mirror those of the host's metabolism. Experiment 1 compared the circadian metabolic and gut microbiota rhythms of M. unguiculatus (n = 12) and M. meridianus (n = 12) and measured the subjects' body temperatures and environmental temperature preferences. In Experiment 2.1, six M. meridianus gerbils were treated with antibiotics, and in Experiment 2.2, 21 M. unguiculatus gerbils (seven per treatment) were randomly gavaged with saline or a gut microbiota suspension from either M. unguiculatus or M. meridianus; their metabolic rhythms were subsequently measured. The results showed that the two gerbils had different metabolic phenotypes that determined activity heterogeneity and contributed to their coexistence. The relative abundances of Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, and Cyanobacteria in M. meridianus varied rhythmically in parallel with the daily metabolic rate, which was significantly higher at night than during the day. The rhythm of the metabolic rate was not noticeable in M. unguiculatus. However, in M.unguiculatus, the relative abundances of Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, and Verrucomicrobia were significantly higher during the day than at night, while Cyanobacteria exhibited the opposite pattern. Antibiotic treatment significantly weakened the metabolic rhythms of M. meridianus, and the circadian rhythms slowly recovered after stopping antibiotic gavage. However, after transplanting M. meridianus' gut microbiota into M. unguiculatus, the metabolic rate of M. unguiculatus was not significantly different from that of the control groups. Our hypothesis was partly supported: the microbiota was only partially involved in regulating the metabolic rhythms of gerbils, and other factors could compensate for the effect of the gut microbiota on host metabolic rhythms. This finding underscores the complexity of host-microbiota interactions and highlights the need for further exploration into the multifaceted mechanisms governing host metabolic regulation., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:, (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Rats were the first mammals to be domesticated for scientific research, and abundant physiological data are available on them. Rats are expected to continue to play an important role as experimental animals, especially with advancements such as CRISPR/Cas9 technology. Environmental enrichment aims to promote species-specific behaviors and psychological well-being. In the present study, we designed a double-decker (DD) cage, which utilizes two stacked plastic cages for rat enrichment, and investigated the influence of housing in the DD cage on rat mating behavior. The results indicated that mount frequency, total mount counts, and total ejaculation latency were significantly lower in the DD cages than in the single-decker (SD) cages. Notably, in the DD cages, the body weight loss of male rats after mating behavior was lower than that observed in the SD cage. Water consumption per day during mating behavior was also significantly lower in the DD cages, although no significant differences were observed in daily food intake during mating behavior. In addition, reproductive performance, including pregnancy rate and birth rate, did not change in the DD cages. In summary, our study demonstrated that DD cages reduce mount frequency and ejaculation latency during rat mating, resulting in decreased water consumption and weight loss in male rats. Therefore, housing in DD cages may serve as a beneficial enrichment for rats.

Objectives: To investigate the correlation between optimal placement depth (OPD) and physical measurement parameters in preterm infants receiving placement of peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) through the great saphenous vein (GSV), and to establish a predictive formula for OPD during the placement of PICC through the GSV., Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed for the preterm infants who received the placement of PICC through the GSV in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University from December 2022 to February 2024. According to the site of puncture [GSV of the knee joint (KJ) or the ankle joint (AJ)], they were divided into a GSV-KJ placement group ( n =38) and a GSV-AJ placement group ( n =33). The infants were measured in terms of body weight (BW), body length, the length of the upper and lower parts of the body, head circumference, and abdominal circumference at the time of placement. The Pearson correlation analysis was used to investigate the correlation between the above variables and OPD. A predictive formula was established for OPD in the placement of PICC via the GSV in preterm infants, and the predicted residual between the predicted depth and the ideal OPD was compared between the conventional predictive formula and the new predictive formula., Results: The Pearson correlation analysis showed that PICC OPD was significantly positively correlated with BW, body length, the length of the upper and lower parts of the body, head circumference, and abdominal circumference in both the GSV-KJ placement group and GSV-AJ placement group ( P <0.05), with the highest degree of correlation between OPD and BW. The univariate linear regression analysis showed a linear relationship between PICC OPD and BW in both groups. The predictive formulas for OPD were as follows: GSV-KJ PICC OPD (cm) = 13.1 + 2.7 × BW (kg) and GSV-AJ PICC OPD (cm) = 13.4 + 6.0 × BW (kg), and the new predictive formulas had a significantly lower predicted residual than the conventional predictive formula ( P <0.05)., Conclusions: OPD for PICC through the GSV is positively correlated with BW, and the prediction results of the new predictive formula based on BW are closer to the ideal OPD.

Introduction: Symbiotic microorganisms in insects regulate multiple physiological functions, widely participating in nutrient metabolism, immune regulation, and crucial regulatory roles in development. However, little is known about how microbial factors might respond to the preparation of insect diapause., Methods: The gut bacterial communities of Loxostege sticticalis larvae induced at different photoperiod of long (LD16:8, nondiapause) and short (LD12:12, prediapause) daylength were compared, by 16S rRNA Illumina MiSeq., Results: A total number of 42 phylum, 78 classes, 191 orders, 286 families, 495 genera, and 424 species were identified in the intestinal bacterial community of L. sticticalis larvae. Alpha diversity and beta diversity analyses revealed significant differences between nondiapause and prediapause larvae. In non-diapause larvae, the dominant intestinal bacteria were Firmicutes and Proteobacteria. In specific, in 3rd and 4th instar larvae, the main intestinal bacteria were Staphylococcus , while in 5th instar, it was JC017 . For the prediapause larvae, the dominant phylum in 3rd instar larvae was Firmicutes, with the dominant genus of Staphylococcus , while in 4th and 5th instar larvae was Bacteroidota, with the dominant genus 4th instar was Staphylococcus , and in 5th instar was JC017 . KEGG functional prediction analysis revealed that functional bacterial groups involved in metabolism had the highest abundance values. Specifically, the amino acid metabolism of metabolism-related functional genes in the 3rd instar prediapause larvae was significantly lower than that in the 4th and 5th instar prediapause larvae and the non-diapause treatment. However, the carbohydrate metabolism in 3rd instar prediapause larvae was significantly higher than that in 4th and 5th instar prediapause larvae and non-diapause treatments. The dominant bacterial phylum in the prediapause larvae at different stages of L. sticticalis was varied, and there were significant differences in community diversity and richness., Discussion: These results suggest a complex interaction between the hosts' physiological state and its gut microbiota, indicating that bacterial communities may assist insects in adapting to diapause preparation by regulating their metabolic levels. This study lays the foundation for further understanding the physiological mechanisms by which intestinal microorganisms regulate overwintering dormancy in the L. sticticalis ., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Wang, Chong, Li, Cui, Song, He, Bo, Zhang and Xiao.)

Thrombotic complications due to platelet hyperreactivity are a major cause of death in patients undergoing chemotherapy. However, the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Herein, using human and GSDME-/- mouse platelets, we showed that GSDME is functionally expressed in anucleate platelets and GSDME-mediated pyroptosis, a newly identified form of cell death in mammalian nucleated cells, contributes to platelet hyperactivity in cisplatin-based chemotherapy. Cisplatin or etoposide activates caspase-3 to cleave GSDME, thereby releasing the N-terminal fragment of GSDME (GSDME-N) toward the platelet plasma membrane, subsequently forming membrane pores and facilitating platelet granule release. This eventually promotes platelet hyperactivity and thrombotic potential. We identified flotillin-2, a scaffold protein, as a GSDME-N interactor that recruits GSDME-N to the platelet membrane. loss of GSDME protects mice from cisplatin-induced platelet hyperactivity. Our results provide evidence that targeting GSDME-mediated pyroptosis could reduce thrombotic potential in chemotherapy., (Copyright © 2024 American Society of Hematology.)

The optical in-phase and quadrature modulator (IQM) is typically utilized as an optical single-sideband (SSB) transmitter for its simple structure and low cost. It requires the modulator biases to be slightly offset for generating the optical carrier. However, this poses significant challenges in the bias control circuits, as most off-the-shelf automatic bias control (ABC) modules are designed to stabilize the IQM at its carrier suppression point for coherent optical communication. In this paper, a novel arbitrary ABC scheme is proposed to stabilize the carrier-to-signal power ratio (CSPR) of an optical SSB signal over long-term operation. This scheme uses SSB rather than double-sideband (DSB) sinusoidal signals as the dither signals. It does not violate the minimum phase condition, thus avoiding performance penalties compared to the conventional ABC scheme in which the DSB dither signal is used. We also develop a closed-form expression to reveal the relationship between the control parameter in the ABC algorithm and the CSPR of the optical SSB signal. By this means, the optical SSB transmitter can automatically adjust its bias voltages and stabilize them at a given CSPR value. The experimental results with ∼80 Gb/s optical SSB signal show that our proposed ABC scheme is effective in stabilizing the bias of the IQM at any point and maintains the CSPR value of the optical SSB signal over hours. It is also shown that the proposed method leads to 1 dB improvement in the receiver sensitivity compared with the traditional ABC technique.

A large amount of radioactive waste is accumulated in the process of nuclear fuel preparation, causing serious pollution to the environment and abundant depleted uranium resources to be abandoned. One of the key issues affecting the development of nuclear energy is how to make full use of depleted uranium resources efficiently. Here, U element with unique coordination mode of 5f electron is spacer bonded to transition metal with 3d orbit through the adsorption and anchoring effect of MXene, thus U and Co dual doped MXene catalyst is constructed along with the comprehensive utilization of depleted uranium resources. The as-prepared U-Co/MXene catalyst demonstrates excellent overpotential of only 184 mV at -10 mA cm -2 and excellent stability up to 150 h, significantly surpassing the bare MXene substrate. Theoretical calculations indicate that the U and Co dual doping optimizes the electronic structure of MXene catalyst by forming the U-O-Co network, thereby improving the thermodynamics of H * adsorption during the catalytic transition state. This research opens up a new path for the recovery of depleted uranium resources and the development of functional actinide catalysts., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Background: Many patients who have undergone surgery experience persistent pain after breast cancer treatment (PPBCT). These symptoms often remain unnoticed by treating physician(s), and the pathophysiology of PPBCT remains poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to determine prevalence of PPBCT and examine the association between PPBCT and various patient, tumor, and treatment characteristics., Patients and Methods: We conducted a questionnaire-based cross-sectional study enrolling patients with breast cancer treated at Máxima Medical Center between 2005 and 2016. PPBCT was defined as pain in the breast, anterior thorax, axilla, and/or medial upper arm that persists for at least 3 months after surgery. Tumor and treatment characteristics were derived from the Dutch Cancer Registry and electronic patient files., Results: Between February and March 2019, a questionnaire was sent to 2022 women, of whom 56.5% responded. Prevalence of PPBCT among the responders was 37.9%, with 50.8% reporting moderate to severe pain. Multivariable analyses showed that women with signs of anxiety, depression or a history of smoking had a higher risk of experiencing PPBCT. Women aged 70 years or older at diagnosis were significantly less likely to report PPBCT compared with younger women. No significant association was found between PPBCT and treatment characteristics, including type of axillary surgery and radiotherapy., Conclusions: A considerable percentage of patients with breast cancer experience PPBCT. Women with signs of anxiety or depression and women with a history of smoking are more likely to report PPBCT. Further research is required to understand the underlying etiology and to improve prevention and treatment strategies for PPBCT., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E. coli O157:H7) emerges as a foodborne pathogen, emphasizing the imperative for creating precise detection tools. An ultrasensitive electrochemiluminescence/fluorescence (ECL/FL) dual-signal mode aptasensor was constructed for the detection of E. coli O157:H7. Ultrafine silver nanoparticles were loaded on the surface of hydrogen-bonded organic skeleton materials by in-situ photoreduction method, and then combined with aptamers that can identify specific targets to prepare HOF-101@AgNPs@Apt, greatly simplifying the ECL/FL dual-signal mode probe fabrication process and improving sensing reliability. HOF-101@AgNPs@Apt had both strong ECL luminescence and fluorescence, resulting in a high detection sensitivity. The low limit of detection (LOD) for ECL and FL were 0.48 CFU mL -1 and 2.39 CFU mL -1 , respectively. Moreover, the proposed dual-signal mode aptasensor has been successfully applied to determine E. coli O157:H7 levels in tap water and milk with superior accuracy and high antiinterference capability, providing a promising method for food safety monitoring., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In this study, vortex-assisted liquid-liquid microextraction (VA-LLME) based on hydrophobic deep eutectic solvents (HDES) was used to efficiently and sustainably extract five phenolic acids and tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) from Shanxi aged vinegar (SAV). The VA-LLME technique was employed to investigate the extraction mechanism of HDES with the best extraction performance for the target compounds using a conductor-like screening model for real solvents (COSMO-RS). An artificial neural network combined with a genetic algorithm (ANN-GA) was developed to optimize the extraction conditions based on single-factor and response surface methodology, while also analyzing the interactive effects on the phenolic acids and TMP in the extracted solution during the extraction phase. The optimized conditions were determined, and the greenness of the procedure was evaluated using an analytical greenness metric, indicating that this technique can serve as a green alternative for the determination of phenolic acids and TMP in SAV., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

β-Cypermethrin (β-CYP), a synthetic pyrethroid pesticide, is widely used for insect management. However, it also affects non-target organisms and pollutes aquatic ecosystems. Tetrahymena thermophila, a unicellular ciliated protist found in fresh water, is in direct contact with aquatic environments and sensitive to environmental changes. The proliferation of T. thermophila was inhibited and the cellular morphology changed under β-CYP stress. The intracellular ROS level significantly increased, and SOD activity gradually rose with increasing β-CYP concentrations. Under 25 mg/L β-CYP stress, 687 genes were up-regulated, primarily enriched in the organic cyclic compound binding and heterocyclic compound binding pathways. These include 8 ATP-binding cassette transporters (ABC) family genes, 2 cytochrome P450 monooxygenase genes, and 2 glutathione peroxidase related genes. Among of them, ABCG14 knockdown affected cellular proliferation under β-CYP stress. In contrast, overexpression of ABCG14 enhanced cellular tolerance to β-CYP. The results demonstrated that Tetrahymena tolerates high β-CYP concentration stress through various detoxification mechanisms, with ABCG14 playing a crucial role in detoxification of β-CYP., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Native mass spectrometry (nMS) is a cutting-edge technique that leverages electrospray ionization MS (ESI-MS) to investigate large biomolecules and their complexes in solution. The goal of nMS is to retain the native structural features and interactions of the analytes during the transition to the gas phase, providing insights into their natural conformations. In biopharmaceutical development, nMS serves as a powerful tool for analyzing complex protein heterogeneity, allowing for the examination of non-covalently bonded assemblies in a state that closely resembles their natural folded form. Herein, we present an imaged capillary isoelectric focusing-MS (icIEF-MS) workflow to characterize cysteine-linked antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) under native conditions. Two ADCs were analyzed: a latest generation cysteine-linked ADC polatuzumab vedotin and the first FDA-approved cysteine-linked ADC brentuximab vedotin. This workflow benefits from a recently developed icIEF system that is MS-friendly and capable of directly coupling to a high-sensitivity MS instrument. Results show that the icIEF separation is influenced by both drug payloads and the post-translational modifications (PTMs), which are then promptly identified by MS. Overall, this native icIEF-MS method demonstrates the potential to understand and control the critical quality attributes (CQAs) that are essential for the safe and effective use of ADCs., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

A novel dispersive solid-phase microextraction method based on a metal-organic framework (MIL-100(Fe)) combined with a dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction technique was proposed for the extraction and enrichment of four insecticides in beverages. The qualitative and quantitative analysis of these insecticides was conducted using HPLC-MS/MS. To optimize the extraction process, several parameters were investigated, and the main variables were optimized using CCD-based RSM. The developed method displayed a wide linear range of 1.000-1000 ng/L and R 2 values >0.993 for all four calibration curves. The method demonstrated high sensitivity, with LODs and LOQs of 0.3-0.6 ng/L and 0.8-1.0 ng/L, respectively. In addition, the greenness of the proposed method was assessed using the Complex GAPI tool, and the results showed that the proposed method exhibits benefits, such as minimal usage of organic solvents and negligible matrix influence, making it a suitable method for the detection of insecticide residues in beverages., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Two novel uranium(IV) orthophosphate framework compounds were obtained by the high-temperature flux method in CsCl-CsF eutectic salt. Cs 2 U IV (PO 4 ) 2 ( 1 ) and isostructural Cs 2 (U IV 0.75 Ce IV 0.25 )(PO 4 ) 2 ( 2 ) are tetragonal structures bridged by (U/Ce) IV -O octacoordinated dodecahedra and PO 4 tetrahedra, with Cs + cations filling in the channels. The crystal structures exhibit good structural and thermal stability with a potential capacity to immobilize tetravalent radionuclides.

Aims: Elevated dsDNA levels in STEMI patients are associated with increased infarct size and worse clinical outcomes. However, the direct effect of dsDNA on platelet activation remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the direct influence of dsDNA on platelet activation, thrombosis, and the underlying mechanisms., Methods and Results: Analysis of clinical samples revealed elevated plasma dsDNA levels in STEMI patients, which positively correlated with platelet aggregation and markers of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) such as MPO-DNA and CitH3. Platelet assays demonstrated the activation of the cGAS-STING pathway in platelets from STEMI patients. DsDNA directly potentiated platelet activation and thrombus formation. Mechanistic studies using G150 (cGAS inhibitor), H151 (STING inhibitor), and MCC950 (NLRP3 inhibitor), as well as cGAS-/-, STING-/- and NLRP3-/- mice showed that dsDNA activated cGAS, a previously unreported DNA sensor in platelets, and induced activation of the STING/NLRP3/caspase-1/IL-1β axis. This cascade enhanced platelet activation and thrombus formation. Platelet cGAS depletion or Palbociclib, a cGAS-STING inhibitor, approved by the FDA for advanced breast cancer, ameliorated myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury in ApoE-/- mice fed with a high-fat diet for 12 weeks., Conclusions: These results suggested that dsDNA is a novel driver of platelet activation and thrombus formation in STEMI patients., Translational Perspective: ST-elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients exhibit high levels of plasma double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), which directly potentiates platelet activation through the platelet cGAS/STING/NLRP3/caspase-1/IL-1β signaling pathway. STEMI patients may benefit from cGAS inhibition in the prevention of platelet hyperactivity and thrombus formation., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Gene therapy has emerged as a potent tool for treating a wide range of hereditary and acquired disorders. However, the development of high-performance nonviral gene delivery vectors remains a significant challenge. Here we report the development of a new type of star-shaped poly(β-amino ester) (SPAE) through a "top-down" hydrolysis approach and demonstrate its exceptional DNA transfection efficiency and safety profiles. Two SPAEs with different monomer combinations are first synthesized using an "arm first" strategy and then hydrolyzed sequentially to produce h-SPAEs with varied chemical compositions and molecular weights. Results demonstrate that hydrolysis significantly influences the physiological characteristics of the resulting h-SPAEs and h-SPAE/DNA polyplexes. Dependent on the chemical composition, h-SPAEs with low to moderate hydrolysis degrees exhibit superior gene transfection efficiency and cell viability across various cell types. Notably, the leading candidate, h-SPAE-1-5h, achieves up to 88.8% gene transfection efficiency, which was 154-257% higher compared to SPAE-1. This study not only establishes an easy-to-operate "top-down" approach for reshaping the topological structure and chemical composition of SPAEs, but also identifies promising candidates for effective gene transfection. This strategy can be applied to other cationic polymers to enhance their gene transfection performance.

With the objective to investigate associations between sociodemographic characteristics and participation in interventions designed to increase participation in cervical cancer screening among under-screened women, we randomized a random sample of 6000 women in Norway aged 35-69 years who had not attended cervical screening for ≥10 years to receive either (i) a reminder to attend regular screening (control), (ii) an offer to order a self-sampling kit (opt-in), or (iii) a self-sampling kit unsolicited (send-to-all). We analyzed how sociodemographic characteristics were associated with screening participation within and between screening arms. In the send-to-all arm, increased screening participation ranged from 17.1% (95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 10.3% to 23.8%) to 30.0% (95% CI = 21.5% to 38.6%) between sociodemographic groups. In the opt-in arm, we observed smaller, and at times, non-significant increases within the range 0.7% (95% CI = -5.8% to 7.3%) to 19.1% (95% CI = 11.6% to 26.7%). In send-to-all versus control comparisons, there was greater increase in participation for women in the workforce versus not (6.1%, 95% CI = 1.6% to 10.6%), with higher versus lower income (7.6%, 95% CI = 2.2% to 13.1%), and with university versus primary education (8.5%, 95% CI = 2.4% to 14.6%). In opt-in versus control comparisons, there was greater increase in participation for women in the workforce versus not (4.6%, 95% CI = 0.7% to 8.5%), with higher versus lower income (6.3%, 95% CI = 1.5% to 11.1%), but lower increase for Eastern European versus Norwegian background (-12.7%, 95% CI = -19.7% to -5.7%). Self-sampling increased cervical screening participation across all sociodemographic levels, but inequalities in participation should be considered when introducing self-sampling, especially with the goal to reach long-term non-attending women., (© 2024 The Author(s). International Journal of Cancer published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of UICC.)

Hibernation, an evolved survival trait among animals, enables them to endure frigid temperatures and food scarcity during the winter months, and it is a widespread phenomenon observed in mammals. The gut microbiota, a crucial component of animal nutrition and health, exhibits particularly dynamic interactions in hibernating mammals. This manuscript comprehensively evaluates the impacts of fasting, hypothermia, and hypometabolism on the gut microbiota of hibernating mammals. It suggests that alterations in the gut microbiota may contribute significantly to the maintenance of energy metabolism and intestinal immune function during hibernation, mediated by their metabolites. By delving into these intricacies, we can gain a deeper understanding of how hibernating mammals adapt to their environments and the consequences of dietary modifications on the symbiotic relationship between the gut microbiota and the host. Additionally, this knowledge can inform our comprehension of the protective mechanisms underlying long-term fasting in non-hibernating species, including humans, providing valuable insights into nutritional strategies and health maintenance., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Gao, Shen and Bo.)

The removal of uranyl ions (UO 2 2+ ) from water is challenging due to their chemical stability, low concentrations, complex water matrix, and technical limitations in extraction and separation. Herein, a novel molybdenum disulfide/graphene oxide heterojunction (MoS 2 /GO-H) is developed, serving as an effective electrode for capacitive deionization (CDI). By combining the inherent advantages of electroadsorption and electrocatalysis, an innovative electroadsorption-electrocatalysis system (EES) strategy is introduced. This system utilizes interface polarization at the MoS 2 and GO interface, creating an additional electric field that significantly influences carrier behavior. The MoS 2 /GO-H electrode, with its extraordinary adsorption capacity of 805.57 mg g -1 under optimal conditions, effectively treated uranium-laden wastewater from a mine, achieving over 90% removal efficiency despite the presence of numerous competing ions at concentrations significantly higher than UO 2 2+ . Employing density functional theory (DFT) and ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations, it is found that the MoS 2 /GO-H total charge density at the Fermi level, enhanced by interfacial polarization, surpasses that of separate MoS 2 and GO, markedly boosting conductivity and electrocatalytic effectiveness., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Estuaries, as connectors between land and ocean, have complex interactions of river and tidal flows that affect the transport of buoyant materials like floating plastics, oil spills, organic matter, and larvae. This study investigates surface-trapped buoyant particle transport in estuaries by using idealized and realistic numerical simulations along with a theoretical model. While river discharge and estuarine exchange flow are usually expected to export buoyant particles to the ocean over subtidal timescales, this study reveals a ubiquitous physical transport mechanism that causes retention of buoyant particles in estuaries. Tidally varying surface convergence fronts affect the aggregation of buoyant particles, and the coupling between particle aggregation and oscillatory tidal currents leads to landward transport at subtidal timescales. Landward transport and retention of buoyant particles is greater in small estuaries, while large estuaries tend to export buoyant particles to the ocean. A dimensionless width parameter incorporating the tidal radian frequency and lateral velocity distinguishes small and large estuaries at a transitional value of around 1. Additionally, higher river flow tends to shift estuaries toward seaward transport and export of buoyant particles. These findings provide insights into understanding the distribution of buoyant materials in estuaries and predicting their fate in the land-sea exchange processes., Competing Interests: Competing interests statement:The authors declare no competing interest.

Objectives: To determine the imaging details and diagnostic information of the treatment response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) of rectal adenocarcinoma at 9.4T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) by ex vivo., Methods: Fifteen cases with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) followed by radical surgery after nCRT between September 2022 and February 2023 were recruited. Resected specimens were fixed in a perfluoropolyether-filled test tube and scanned with a 3.0T and 9.4T MRI system ex vivo. The residual tumor depth and MRI-based tumor regression grade (TRG) were subjectively assessed and then compared with the pathological findings., Results: The ex vivo 9.4T T2WI without fat suppression clearly differentiated tumor tissue, fibrosis and normal rectal wall, which clearly corresponded to the pathologic tissues of the rectal specimens. The TRG could be accurately assessed on ex vivo 9.4T images in 13/15 specimens (86.7%), while in 11/15 specimens (73.3%) on ex vivo 3.0T images., Conclusion: Ex vivo 9.4T MR imaging clearly displayed the components of rectal wall and proved excellent diagnostic performance for evaluating the treatment response to nCRT, which allow radiologists to understand and then assess more accurately the TRG of LARC after nCRT., (© 2024 The Author(s). Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Confidence in childhood vaccination is high in Norway and the Norwegian Childhood Immunization Programme (NCIP) achieves high overall coverage rates. However, lower coverage has been observed for some immigrant groups, including Polish immigrants who represent the largest immigrant group in Norway. Anti-vaccine sentiments and increased refusal of mandatory childhood vaccination has been on the rise in Poland, but it is unknown whether such attitudes also apply to Polish immigrants in Norway, as they experience a different vaccination policy and perhaps also different attitudes to vaccines. This qualitative study aims to explore attitudes towards childhood vaccination in Norway among Polish immigrants., Methods: We interviewed 15 Polish parents living in Norway in 2022. We recruited the participants by purposive sampling and analyzed the interviews by reflexive thematic analysis., Results: Three themes were identified: views of childhood vaccination, vaccine hesitancy, and differences in childhood vaccination between Poland and Norway. Overall, the participants favored childhood vaccination and viewed most of the vaccines included in the NCIP as safe and reliable. Human papilloma virus, meningococcal and pneumococcal vaccines were declined by some of the parents. Comparisons of childhood vaccination in Poland and Norway was evident in many of the interviews, especially among parents whose children had received vaccines in both countries. The participants were well acquainted with the NCIP, favored voluntary childhood vaccination, and the majority expressed a high level of trust in Norwegian health authorities., Conclusions: Polish immigrants to Norway generally expressed positive views about childhood vaccination. Non-vaccination was related to lack of knowledge and/or unfamiliarity with certain vaccines and not with anti-vaccine sentiments or conspiracy theories. The study highlights how parents' knowledge, in combination with norms and trends from both birth country and country of residence, influence parents' decision making about vaccination., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Global warming has induced alterations in the grassland ecosystem, such as elevated temperatures and decreased precipitation, which disturb the equilibrium of these ecosystems and impact various physiological processes of grassland rodents, encompassing growth, development, and reproduction. As global warming intensifies, the repercussions of high-temperature stress on small mammals are garnering increased attention. Recently, research has highlighted that the composition and ratio of gut microbiota are not only shaped by environmental factors and the host itself but also reciprocally influence an array of physiological functions and energy metabolism in animals. In this research, we combined 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing with conventional physiological assessments, to elucidate the consequences of high-temperature stress on the gut microbiota structure and reproductive capacity of Siberian hamsters ( Phodopus sungorus ). The results were as follows: 1. The growth and development of male and female hamsters in the high-temperature group were delayed, with lower body weight and reduced food intake. 2. High temperature inhibits the development of reproductive organs in both female and male hamsters. 3. High temperature changes the composition and proportion of gut microbiota, reducing bacteria that promote reproduction, such as Pseudobutyricoccus, Ruminiclostridium-E , Sporofaciens , UMGS1071 , and CAG&#95;353 . Consequently, our study elucidates the specific impacts of high-temperature stress on the gut microbiota dynamics and reproductive health of Siberian hamsters, thereby furnishing insights for managing rodent populations amidst global climatic shifts. It also offers a valuable framework for understanding seasonal variations in mammalian reproductive strategies, contributing to the broader discourse on conservation and adaptation under changing environmental conditions.

Radioresistant cancer cells are risk factors for recurrence and are occasionally detected in recurrent tumors after radiotherapy. Intratumor heterogeneity is believed to be a potential cause of treatment resistance. Heterogeneity in DNA content has also been reported in human colorectal cancer; however, little is known about how such heterogeneity changes with radiotherapy or how it affects cancer radioresistance. In the present study, we established radioresistant clone SW480RR cells after fractionated X-ray irradiation of human colorectal cancer-derived SW480.hu cells, which are composed of two cell populations with different chromosome numbers, and examined how cellular radioresistance changed with fractionated radiotherapy. Compared with the parental cell population, which mostly comprised cells with higher ploidy, the radioresistant clones showed lower ploidy and less initial DNA damage. The lower ploidy cells in the parental cell population were identified as having radioresistance prior to irradiation; thus, SW480RR cells were considered intrinsically radioresistant cells selected from the parental population through fractionated irradiation. This study presents a practical example of the emergence of radioresistant cells from a cell population with ploidy heterogeneity after irradiation. The most likely mechanism is the selection of an intrinsically radioresistant population after fractionated X-ray irradiation, with a background in which lower ploidy cells exhibit lower initial DNA damage., (© 2024 by Radiation Research Society. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.)

Aims: Teenage pregnancy may have negative consequences for the mother and the infant. The aim of the study was to examine whether selected individual factors occurring early in life were associated with teenage pregnancy., Methods: In a population-based, cross-sectional questionnaire study among 34,455 women from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden aged 20-45 years, who had first sexual intercourse (FSI) at age 13-19 years, we assessed the association between early smoking and drinking initiation (i.e., before the age of 13), contraceptive use at FSI, and teenage pregnancy. Log-linear binary regression models were fitted to estimate the relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of teenage pregnancy according to the three exposure variables, overall and by age at FSI. Furthermore, the outcomes of the teenage pregnancies were examined according to age at FSI., Results: Teenage pregnancy occurred in 11% of the population. Both early smoking initiation (RR: 1.6; 95% CI: 1.4-1.8), early drinking initiation (RR: 1.2; 95% CI: 1.0-1.4), and non-use of contraceptives at FSI (RR: 1.9; 95% CI: 1.8-2.0) were associated with teenage pregnancy. The associations for early smoking initiation and non-use of contraceptives remained when analyses were stratified by age at FSI. Almost 60% of all teenage pregnant women had an induced abortion and less than 30% gave birth., Conclusions: Individual factors, including early smoking and drinking initiation, and non-use of contraceptives at FSI, were associated with teenage pregnancy regardless of age at FSI. This emphasizes the necessity of focusing on early risk-taking behavior as a potential modifier to prevent teenage pregnancy., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

All-inorganic halide perovskite semiconductors have received extensive attention due to their excellent photoelectronic conversion efficiency. Prior studies have reported on compounds CsPbBr 3 and CsPbCl 3 . However, the transition phases between them have not been systematically studied. Here, a series of large-size single crystals of CsPbBr x Cl 3- x ( x = 0-3) were successfully grown by the Bridgman method, which proves that the Br and Cl atoms can be miscible in any proportion in the solid solution system, and the change of lattice parameters conforms to Vegard's law. Also, the bandgap and light emission were studied. It is found that the band gap (2.90-2.29 eV) and photoluminescence characteristics (from blue light to green light) can be effectively tuned by adjusting the content of the Br atom. These results provide valuable guidance for the development and optimization of photoelectronic semiconductors that can meet different practical demands.

Subcutaneous delivery of cell therapy is an appealing minimally-invasive strategy for the treatment of various diseases. However, the subdermal site is poorly vascularized making it inadequate for supporting engraftment, viability, and function of exogenous cells. In this study, we developed a 3D bioprinted scaffold composed of alginate/gelatin (Alg/Gel) embedded with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to enhance vascularization and tissue ingrowth in a subcutaneous microenvironment. We identified bio-ink crosslinking conditions that optimally recapitulated the mechanical properties of subcutaneous tissue. We achieved controlled degradation of the Alg/Gel scaffold synchronous with host tissue ingrowth and remodeling. Further, in a rat model, the Alg/Gel scaffold was superior to MSC-embedded Pluronic hydrogel in supporting tissue development and vascularization of a subcutaneous site. While the scaffold alone promoted vascular tissue formation, the inclusion of MSCs in the bio-ink further enhanced angiogenesis. Our findings highlight the use of simple cell-laden degradable bioprinted structures to generate a supportive microenvironment for cell delivery., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

As an emerging porous material, hydrogen-bonded organic framework materials (HOFs) still pose application challenges. In this work, the designed type "I + II" heterojunction extracted hot electrons from HOFs using quantum dots (QDs) and polypyrrole (Ppy), improving the stability and photoelectrochemical performance of materials. In addition to serving as a potential well, electropolymerized Ppy was used as a recognition element for bisphenol A (BPA), and a novel self-powered molecularly imprinted photoelectrochemical (MIP-PEC) sensor was designed. The sensing platform showed a linear relationship from 1 × 10 -10 to 1 × 10 -7 mol∙L -1 and from 1 × 10 -7 to 1 mol∙L -1 with an acceptable detection limit of 4.2 × 10 -11 mol∙L -1 . This is the first application of HOFs in constructing MIP-PEC sensors and a new attempt to improve the stability of HOFs for the application of porous crystal materials in the sensing field., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The fermentation process of Chinese Baijiu's fermented grains involves the intricate succession and metabolism of microbial communities, collectively shaping the Baijiu's quality. Understanding the composition and succession of these living microbial communities within fermented grains is crucial for comprehending fermentation and flavor formation mechanisms. However, conducting high-throughput analysis of living microbial communities within the complex microbial system of fermented grains poses significant challenges. Thus, this study addressed this challenge by devising a high-throughput analysis framework using light-flavor Baijiu as a model. This framework combined propidium monoazide (PMA) pretreatment technology with amplicon sequencing techniques. Optimal PMA treatment parameters, including a concentration of 50 μM and incubation in darkness for 5 min followed by an exposure incubation period of 5 min, were identified. Utilizing this protocol, viable microorganism biomass ranging from 8.71 × 10 6 to 1.47 × 10 8 copies/μL was successfully detected in fermented grain samples. Subsequent amplicon sequencing analysis revealed distinct microbial community structures between untreated and PMA-treated groups, with notable differences in relative abundance compositions, particularly in dominant species such as Lactobacillus , Bacillus , Pediococcus , Saccharomycopsis , Issatchenkia and Pichia , as identified by LEfSe analysis. The results of this study confirmed the efficacy of PMA-amplicon sequencing technology for analyzing living microbial communities in fermented grains and furnished a methodological framework for investigating living microbial communities in diverse traditional fermented foods. This technical framework holds considerable significance for advancing our understanding of the fermentation mechanisms intrinsic to traditional fermented foods.

Delivering functional gene into targeted skin cells or tissues to modulate the genes expression, has the potential to treat various hereditary cutaneous disorders. Nevertheless, the lack of safe and effective gene delivery vehicles greatly limits the clinical translation of gene therapy for inherited skin diseases. Herein, we developed a facile elution fractionation strategy to isolate eight HPAEs with M w ranging from 7.6 to 131.8 kg/mol and Đ < 2.0 from the one crude HPAE 23.7k , and investigated the expression efficiency for TGM1 and COL7A1 plasmids. Gene transfection results revealed that the intermediate MW HPAEs, HPAE 20.6k , exhibited the highest gene transfection efficiency (46.4%) and the strongest mean fluorescence intensity (143,032 RLU), compared to other isolated components and the crude product. Importantly, best-performing isolated HPAE effectively delivered COL7A1 (15,974 bp) and TGM1 (7181 bp) plasmids, promoting the efficient expression of type VII collagen (C7) and transglutaminase-1 proteins in cutaneous cells. Our study establishes a straightforward step-by-step elution fractionation strategy for the development of HPAEs gene delivery vectors, expediting their clinical translation in inherited skin diseases., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

By integrating magnetic resonance-visible components with scaffold materials, hydrogel microspheres (HMs) become visible under magnetic resonance imaging(MRI), allowing for non-invasive, continuous, and dynamic monitoring of the distribution, degradation, and relationship of the HMs with local tissues. However, when these visualization components are physically blended into the HMs, it reduces their relaxation rate and specificity under MRI, weakening the efficacy of real-time dynamic monitoring. To achieve MRI-guided in vivo monitoring of HMs with tissue repair functionality, we utilized airflow control and photo-crosslinking methods to prepare alginate-gelatin-based dual-network hydrogel microspheres (G-AlgMA HMs) using gadolinium ions (Gd (III)), a paramagnetic MRI contrast agent, as the crosslinker. When the network of G-AlgMA HMs degrades, the cleavage of covalent bonds causes the release of Gd (III), continuously altering the arrangement and movement characteristics of surrounding water molecules. This change in local transverse and longitudinal relaxation times results in variations in MRI signal values, thus enabling MRI-guided in vivo monitoring of the HMs. Additionally, in vivo data show that the degradation and release of polypeptide (K 2 (SL) 6 K 2 (KK)) from G-AlgMA HMs promote local vascular regeneration and soft tissue repair. Overall, G-AlgMA HMs enable non-invasive, dynamic in vivo monitoring of biomaterial degradation and tissue regeneration through MRI, which is significant for understanding material degradation mechanisms, evaluating biocompatibility, and optimizing material design., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

As a stochastic perturbation, the inter-core crosstalk (IC-XT) severely distorts the signal in multi-core fibers (MCF), especially for long-haul transmission. How to quickly measure and monitor the IC-XT online for an MCF-based space division multiplexing (SDM) system is of special importance. In this paper, we introduce the technology of auxiliary management and control channel (AMCC) to online monitor the IC-XT of MCF, in which the unique advantage of low-frequency auxiliary management and control signal is fully utilized with the limited influence on high-speed data transmission. Specifically, two orthogonal sequences are chosen as monitoring signals for the signal-channel core and the crosstalk-channel core, respectively, followed by digital signal processing (DSP) for the received signal to evaluate the real-time crosstalk accurately. The experimental verifications of XT online monitoring confirm the effectiveness of our proposed method with very small monitoring error (mostly < 0.5 dB) for both heterodyne XT and homodyne XT in the C and L bands, showing its great potential for future SDM systems.

This research presents a new, eco-friendly, and swift method combining solid-phase extraction and hydrophobic deep eutectic solvents (DES) with high-performance liquid chromatography (SPE-DES-HPLC) for extracting and quantifying catechin and epicatechin in Shanxi aged vinegar (SAV). The parameters, such as the elution solvent type, the XAD-2 macroporous resin dosage, the DES ratio, the DES volume, the adsorption time, and the desorption time, were optimized via a one-way experiment. A central composite design using the Box-Behnken methodology was employed to investigate the effects of various factors, including 17 experimental runs and the construction of three-dimensional response surface plots to identify the optimal conditions. The results show that the optimal conditions were an HDES (tetraethylammonium chloride and octanoic acid) ratio of 1:3, an XAD-2 macroporous resin dosage of 188 mg, and an adsorption time of 11 min. Under these optimal conditions, the coefficients of determination of the method were greater than or equal to 0.9917, the precision was less than 5%, and the recoveries ranged from 98.8% to 118.8%. The environmentally friendly nature of the analytical process and sample preparation was assessed via the Analytical Eco-Scale and AGREE, demonstrating that this method is a practical and eco-friendly alternative to conventional determination techniques. In summary, this innovative approach offers a solid foundation for the assessment of flavanol compounds present in SAV samples.

Insulin resistance (IR) is a major pathogenic factor in the progression of MASLD. In the liver, insulin suppresses gluconeogenesis and enhances de novo lipogenesis (DNL). During IR, there is a defect in insulin-mediated suppression of gluconeogenesis, but an unrestrained increase in hepatic lipogenesis persists. The mechanism of increased hepatic steatosis in IR is unclear and remains controversial. The key discrepancy is whether insulin retains its ability to directly regulate hepatic lipogenesis. Blocking insulin/IRS/AKT signaling reduces liver lipid deposition in IR, suggesting insulin can still regulate lipid metabolism; hepatic glucose metabolism that bypasses insulin's action may contribute to lipogenesis; and due to peripheral IR, other tissues are likely to impact liver lipid deposition. We here review the current understanding of insulin's action in governing different aspects of hepatic lipid metabolism under normal and IR states, with the purpose of highlighting the essential issues that remain unsettled., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background: The Norwegian Childhood Immunization Program maintains a high national coverage of 95-97% in the most recent years. Whether there are subgroups with lower uptake is less studied. This study examines pertussis and measles vaccination coverage among six immigrant groups in Norway. These vaccines are normally administered as part of different combination vaccines and their coverage rate indicate the national vaccination coverage against a range of additional infections., Methods: Data from the Norwegian National Population Register were linked at individual level with vaccination data from the Norwegian Immunisation Registry. The final sample consisted of 53,052 children born during 2000-2018 in Norway to parents who were born in Iraq, Lithuania, Pakistan, Poland, Somalia, or Vietnam. Vaccination coverage was measured at 2-years of age. Multivariate linear regression was utilized to estimate the relationship between vaccinations status, year of birth, gender, mother's length of residency in Norway, and area of residence., Results: At two years of age, the majority of the children were vaccinated. Coverage among the groups varied at, above, and below the national average for the two vaccines. For most of the years examined, children born by parents from Lithuania, Poland, and Somalia had lower coverage for the measles vaccine (range 81-84% in 2020) than the national level (97% in 2020). Children born by parents from the Eastern-European countries also had lower coverage than the national level for the pertussis vaccine (range 87-89% in 2020)., Discussion: This study illustrates how subgroups with lower vaccination coverage may exists within a well-established vaccination program with high national coverages. Differences in coverage were found for both vaccines, but the differences were more pronounced for the measles vaccine. The high vaccination coverage in Norway provides indirect protection through herd immunity for unvaccinated individuals, however, the lower vaccination coverage in some immigrant groups is a concern., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier India Pvt Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The design of efficient, high-stability nitrogen fixation catalysts remains a great challenge to achieve electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) under ambient conditions. Herein, the high-throughput first-principles calculations are performed to obtain potential electrochemical NRR catalysts from transition metal (TM) dimers anchored on SnS 2 nanosheets. The selected W 2 /SnS 2 behaves as a promising NRR candidate possessing -0.27 V limiting potential and 0.81 eV maximum kinetic potential, and it exhibits the adsorption advantages of *N 2 over other small molecules (*H 2 O, *O, *OH, *H). More importantly, the moderate d orbital valence electron number and electronegativity of TM atom could obtain better NRR activity, and a new descriptor φ considering the effects of coordination environments and adsorbates is proposed to achieve the fast pre-screening among various candidates. This work presents practical insights into the fast screening of TM 2 /SnS 2 candidates for efficient nitrogen fixation and further streamlining the design of electrochemical NRR catalysts., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The rapid development of science and technology has led to an increasing number of high-tech enterprises offering new products through successive generations of product upgrades. This trend presents a new challenge for the sustainable operations of enterprises. Based on the Norton-Bass model, this study begins by constructing a multi-generation product diffusion model within a single enterprise in the context of a monopoly under the quality upgrade scenario. Subsequently, a supply model is established based on this foundation, and these two models are seamlessly integrated using product sales volume as an interface, culminating in a comprehensive sales-supply system. This study analyzes the effects of new-product pricing, quality levels, initial stock, and production capacity on the performance of this system. The system dynamics (SD) method was used to simulate and solve the system in the decentralized and centralized decision-making modes, and the two decision-making modes were compared and analyzed. The research reveals several key findings. i) Comprehensive decision optimization yields enhanced profitability through joint optimization calculation of the multi-generation product diffusion system and the supply adjustment system. ii) consumer price sensitivity significantly affects product quality upgrades and profits. A negative correlation exists between consumer price sensitivity and both factors. The upgrades of product quality should be carefully traded off with consideration of pricing and quality costs. iii) Maximizing profits by maintaining a certain order level of backlog or stock shortage is beneficial for overall enterprise profitability. Additionally, optimal production capacity has been identified as a crucial element in efficient operational inventory management. This study expands the multi-generation product diffusion operational theory and provides valuable theoretical support and decision-making foundations for the sustainable management of enterprises., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2024 Bo et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Competing Interests: Potential conflicts of interest. G. A. P. reports research funding (paid to their institution) from Merck and Takeda; consulting fees from Merck, Symbio, and Takeda; honoraria from Merck; serving on a data and safety monitoring board or advisory board for AlloVir, Armata, and Vera; and serving as chair (voluntary) for the Transplant Infectious Disease of the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy. R. K. A. reports study/grant support (paid to their institution) from AiCuris, Astellas, AstraZeneca, Chimerix, Merck, Moderna, Oxford Immunotec, Qiagen, Regeneron, and Takeda. C. C. reports study/grant support (paid to their institution) from Merck Sharp & Dohme and Takeda; consulting fees from Takeda; and honoraria (personal) from Takeda and Merck Sharp & Dohme. R. F. D. reports consulting fees (advisor honoraria) from Cidara, Gilead Sciences, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Omeros Corporation, and Sobi; honoraria (speaker's bureau) from Bristol Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Omeros Corporation, and Takeda; support for attending meetings and/or travel from Bristol Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Kite Pharma, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Omeros Corporation, and Pfizer; and receipt of equipment and materials from Roche Diagnostics. S. H. reports honoraria (advisory board) from Takeda. J. M. reports honoraria (speaker) and advisory board participation from Takeda; consulting fees from F2G, Gilead Sciences, Mundipharma, and Pfizer; honoraria from F2G, Gilead Sciences, Mundipharma, and Pfizer; support for attending meetings and/or travel from F2G, Gilead Sciences, and Mundipharma; and serving on a data and safety monitoring board or advisory board for Cidara, F2G, Gilead Sciences, Mundipharma, and Takeda. C. S. reports honoraria (speaker) from GSK, Merck Sharp & Dohme, and Pfizer and support for attending meetings and/or travel to an American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting from Kite Pharma, a Gilead company. J.-A. H. Y. reports trial reimbursement (paid to their institution) from Takeda and serving as editor-in-chief for Clinical Microbiology Reviews and as associate editor (unpaid) for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy. M. F., J. W., R. A. M. and T. B. report employee and stock/stock options from Takeda. D. J. W. reports research grants from Ansun Biopharma, Cidara, Symbio, and Takeda and consulting fees from Shire and ViroPharma. The remaining author reports no potential conflicts. All authors have submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest. Conflicts that the editors consider relevant to the content of the manuscript have been disclosed.

This study evaluated the cost-effectiveness of maribavir versus investigator-assigned therapy (IAT; valganciclovir/ganciclovir, foscarnet, or cidofovir) for post-transplant refractory cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection with or without resistance. A two-stage Markov model was designed using data from the SOLSTICE trial (NCT02931539), real-world multinational observational studies, and published literature. Stage 1 (0-78 weeks) comprised clinically significant CMV (csCMV), non-clinically significant CMV (n-csCMV), and dead states; stage 2 (78 weeks-lifetime) comprised alive and dead states. Total costs (2022 USD) and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) were estimated for the maribavir and IAT cohorts. An incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was calculated to determine cost-effectiveness against a willingness-to-pay threshold of $100 000/QALY. Compared with IAT, maribavir had lower costs ($139 751 vs $147 949) and greater QALYs (6.04 vs 5.83), making it cost-saving and more cost-effective. Maribavir had higher acquisition costs compared with IAT ($80 531 vs $65 285), but lower costs associated with administration/monitoring ($16 493 vs $27 563), adverse events (AEs) ($11 055 vs $16 114), hospitalization ($27 157 vs $33 905), and graft loss ($4516 vs $5081), thus making treatment with maribavir cost-saving. Maribavir-treated patients spent more time without CMV compared with IAT-treated patients (0.85 years vs 0.68 years), leading to lower retreatment costs for maribavir (cost savings: -$42 970.80). Compared with IAT, maribavir was more cost-effective for transplant recipients with refractory CMV, owing to better clinical efficacy and avoidance of high costs associated with administration, monitoring, AEs, and hospitalizations. These results can inform healthcare decision-makers on the most effective use of their resources for post-transplant refractory CMV treatment., (© 2024 The Authors. Journal of Medical Virology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Brain functional connectivity (FC) based on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) has been in vogue to predict Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), which is a neuropsychiatric disease up the plight of locating latent biomarkers for clinical diagnosis. Albeit massive endeavors have been made, most studies are fed up with several chronic issues, such as the intractability of harnessing the interaction flourishing within brain regions, the astriction of representation due to vanishing gradient within deeper network architecture, and the poor interpretability leading to unpersuasive diagnosis. To ameliorate these issues, a FC-learned Residual Graph Transformer Network, namely RGTNet, is proposed. Specifically, we design a Graph Encoder to extract temporal-related features with long-range dependencies, from which interpretable FC matrices would be modeled. Besides, the residual trick is introduced to deepen the GCN architecture, thereby learning the higher-level information. Moreover, a novel Graph Sparse Fitting followed by weighted aggregation is proposed to ease dimensionality explosion. Empirically, the results on two types of ABIDE data sets demonstrate the meliority of RGTNet. Notably, the achieved ACC metric reaches 73.4%, overwhelming most competitors with merely 70.9% on the AAL atlas using a five-fold cross-validation policy. Moreover, the investigated biomarkers concord closely with the authoritative medical knowledge, paving a viable way for ASD-clinical diagnosis. Our code is available at https://github.com/CodeGoat24/RGTNet., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Gene delivery to macrophages holds great promise for cancer immunotherapy. However, traditional gene delivery methods exhibit low transfection efficiency in macrophages. The star-shaped topological structure of polymers is known to encapsulate genes inside their cores, thereby facilitating sustained release of the genetic material. Herein, combining the structural advantages of star polymers and the transfection advantages of poly (β-amino ester)s (PAEs), we developed a novel linear oligomer grafting-onto strategy to synthesize a library of multi-terminal star structured PAEs (SPAEs), and evaluated their gene delivery efficiency in various tissue cells. The transfection with human hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG2, HCC-LM3 cells and MHCC-97H cells), rat normal liver cells (BRL-3 A cells), human ovarian cancer cells (A2780 cells), African green monkey kidney cells (Vero cells), human cervical cancer cells (HeLa cells), human chondrosarcoma cells (SW1353 cells), and difficult-to-transfect human epidermal keratinocytes (HaCaT cells) and normal human fibroblast cells (NHF cells) showed that SPAEs exhibited superior transfection profile. The GFP transfection efficiency of top-performing SPAEs in HeLa cells (96.1%) was 2.1-fold, and 3.2-fold higher compared to jetPEI and Lipo3000, respectively, indicating that the star-shaped topological structure can significantly enhance the transfection efficiency of PAEs. More importantly, the top-performing SPAEs could efficiently deliver Nod2 DNA to difficult-to-transfect RAW264.7 macrophages, with a high transfection efficiency of 33.9%, which could promote macrophage M1 polarization and enhanced CD8+ T cell response in co-incubation experiments. This work advances gene therapy by targeting difficult-to-transfect macrophages and remodeling the tumor immune microenvironment., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Histone modification and nucleosome assembly play important roles in chromatin-related processes. Histone chaperones form different complexes and coordinate histone transportation and assembly. Various histone chaperone complexes have been identified in different organisms. The ciliate protozoa (ciliates) have various chromatin structures and different nuclear morphology. However, histone chaperone components and functions of different subunits remain unclear in ciliates. Tetrahymema thermophila contains a transcriptionally active macronucleus (MAC) and a transcriptionally inactive micronucleus (MIC) which exhibit multiple replication and various chromatin remodeling progresses during vegetative growth and sexual developmental stages. Here, we found histone chaperone RebL1 not only localized evenly in the transcriptionally active MAC but also dynamically changed in the MIC during vegetative growth and sexual developmental stages. REBL1 knockdown inhibited cellular proliferation. The macronuclear morphology became bigger in growing mutants. The abnormal macronuclear structure also occurred in the starvation stage. Furthermore, micronuclear meiosis was disturbed during sexual development, leading to a failure to generate new gametic nuclei. RebL1 potentially interacted with various factors involved in histone-modifying complexes and chromatin remodeling complexes in different developmental stages. REBL1 knockdown affected expression levels of the genes involved in chromatin organization and transcription. Taken together, RebL1 plays a vital role in maintaining macronuclear structure stability and gametogenesis in T. thermophila ., Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42995-024-00219-z., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestThe authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (© The Author(s) 2024.)

Introduction: Proinflammatory cytokines are implicated in pancreatic ß cell failure in type 1 and type 2 diabetes and are known to stimulate alternative RNA splicing and the expression of nonsense-mediated RNA decay (NMD) components. Here, we investigate whether cytokines regulate NMD activity and identify transcript isoforms targeted in ß cells., Methods: A luciferase-based NMD reporter transiently expressed in rat INS1(832/13), human-derived EndoC-ßH3, or dispersed human islet cells is used to examine the effect of proinflammatory cytokines (Cyt) on NMD activity. The gain- or loss-of-function of two key NMD components, UPF3B and UPF2, is used to reveal the effect of cytokines on cell viability and function. RNA-sequencing and siRNA-mediated silencing are deployed using standard techniques., Results: Cyt attenuate NMD activity in insulin-producing cell lines and primary human ß cells. These effects are found to involve ER stress and are associated with the downregulation of UPF3B. Increases or decreases in NMD activity achieved by UPF3B overexpression (OE) or UPF2 silencing raise or lower Cyt-induced cell death, respectively, in EndoC-ßH3 cells and are associated with decreased or increased insulin content, respectively. No effects of these manipulations are observed on glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. Transcriptomic analysis reveals that Cyt increases alternative splicing (AS)-induced exon skipping in the transcript isoforms, and this is potentiated by UPF2 silencing. Gene enrichment analysis identifies transcripts regulated by UPF2 silencing whose proteins are localized and/or functional in the extracellular matrix (ECM), including the serine protease inhibitor SERPINA1/α-1-antitrypsin, whose silencing sensitizes ß-cells to Cyt cytotoxicity. Cytokines suppress NMD activity via UPR signaling, potentially serving as a protective response against Cyt-induced NMD component expression., Conclusion: Our findings highlight the central importance of RNA turnover in ß cell responses to inflammatory stress., Competing Interests: Author GR is a consultant for, and has received grant funding from, Sun Pharmaceuticals Inc. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision., (Copyright © 2024 Ghiasi, Marchetti, Piemonti, Nielsen, Porse, Mandrup-Poulsen and Rutter.)